Friday, April 30, 2010 | 8pm
Saturday, May 1, 2010 | 4pm + 8pm
EDAM Studio (303 East 8th Avenue)
Tickets $20 regular, $15 student/senior available from Tickets Tonight (ticketstonight.ca/604.684.2787, surcharges apply) and at the door

Music by Juliet Palmer | Text by Anna Chatterton
Performed by Christine Duncan, Patricia O’Callaghan & Neema Bickersteth

From the abuse of the sweatshop to the fantasy of costume and the empowerment of sewing-it-yourself, the sewing machine has been a force for exploitation and liberation since its invention in the 19th century. Anchored in the sounds and rhythms of sewing, Stitch uncovers the emotional layers of the relationship between woman and barely-tamed machine. The performance will also feature a companion piece created specially by community members to accompany the Vancouver presentation of Stitch.

“A rogue brace of creative spirits cuts through the couture and sweeps us straight into a sewing sweatshop in Stitch. Billed as ‘an a cappella opera for three women and three sewing machines,’ it crosses so many genres as to be in a category of its own… Imagine an opera presented outside a theatre, without a stage or orchestra. It doesn’t seem like opera at all – until you realise how much a librettist, composer and three vocalists can accomplish with the simplest of means. That’s an art.” 
—Toronto Star

Listen to an excerpt from Stitch - Cross Stitch
http://urbanvessel.wordpress.com/stitch/

Stitch workshop
Led by Anna Chatterton and Juliet Palmer (urbanvessel collective)
Acollaborative workshop digging inside the sounds and language of the sweatshop. Writer Anna Chatterton and composer Juliet Palmer will guide group improvisations exploring the vocabulary of sewing. We will weave together everyday movement and gesture, rhythm, extended voice and sound poetry to create a 5-10 minute companion piece for Stitch. Participants are invited to bring fabric and/or a rippable/stitchable item of clothing, scissors, needle and thread.

Anna Chatterton is a librettist, playwright and performer whose work is rooted in rhythm, rhyme, soundscape and sound poetry. Her work focuses on women’s societal roles, constraints and obsessions, both historical and contemporary. Anna is currently in Tarragon Theatre’s Playwright’s Unit and has been in playwrights units at The Canadian Stage Company and Factory Theatre. She was recently commissioned by the Canadian Opera Company to write a full length opera with James Rolfe (2011/12). www.independentauntie.com

Juliet Palmer moved from New Zealand to New York in 1990 to work with interdisciplinary pioneer Meredith Monk, completing her PhD at Princeton University in 1999. Based in Toronto, her music has been featured around the world, from New York’s Bang On A Can Festival to Italy’s Angelica Festival and Australia's Adelaide Festival. Recent works include the Dora-nominated a cappella opera Stitch at the 2008 FreeFall Festival/Harbourfront’s World Stage; and the site-specific Slip at the Harrison Baths. Urbanvessel's new work Voice-box, for four women vocalists who box, is a Harbourfront Fresh Ground commission and will premiere November 2010. Palmer co-directed and scored the animated short film Soaring, Roaring, Diving which was named “Best Experimental Film” in the 2009 Brooklyn International Film Festival. www.musiccentre.ca

Presented in association with

and the Voice Over Mind Festival

Series events presented by Western Front New Music include:
Vivian Houle + Stefan Smulovitz Duo/Adam Basanta
April 29, 2010; 5PM (Western Front)

Idiolalla/VOXY Choir and the Roundhouse Seniors Choir/Lief Ambrosia Hall
May 5, 2010; 7PM (Chan Centre - UBC)

Christian Bok/Jessica Kenney and Parvaneh Daneshvar
May 6, 2010; 8PM (Western Front)

Shelley Hirsch/Veda Hille
May 7, 2010; 8PM (Western Front)

Shelley Hirsch - Free Workshop
May 8, 2010; 10AM (Western Front)


VNM season media sponsor - 2009/2010